Dec 9, 2020 | Non categorizzato
As in previous years the Gen4, children in the Focolare Movement, are once again getting involved in this project to remind everyone of the true meaning of Christmas. 
With the pandemic currently forcing us to avoid personal contact, the Gen4 – boys and girls aged 4-8 in the Focolare Movement – were really wondering how they could prepare for Christmas. “How are we going to do the “they have evicted Jesus” project this year? Will we be able to get together to make the plaster figures of Baby Jesus? Will we be able to go out into the streets to give Jesus to people?” Founded in 1997 this gen4 project goes far beyond the literal meaning of the words: it is about not allowing ourselves to be conditioned by consumerism, but putting real values at the heart of Christmas. The idea came from a reflection by Chiara Lubich who was in Switzerland in the period before Christmas. Walking through the illuminated streets of a big city, Chiara was struck by the lights, the graceful decorations, by so much wealth but above all by the absence of any reference to the meaning of the first Christmas. She wrote: “this rich world has “taken” Christmas and all its trappings but has evicted Jesus! (…) The world focuses on Christmas for the best earnings of the year but it does not think about Jesus”. Since 1997 thousands of Gen4 all over the world have responded to Chiara’s invitation to put Jesus back at the centre of Christmas. In previous years, before we had Covid, the Gen4 offered plaster figures of Baby Jesus or all kinds of nativity scenes they had made themselves in the streets and squares, in the markets, at local institutions and in schools together with a copy of Chiara Lubich’s writing entitled “they have evicted Jesus”. Inherent in this project is the dimension of “gift”, of being aware of others: every year the gen4 think of initiatives to support children their own age in other parts of the world who, like Baby Jesus, lack basic necessities. The people who receive the “Little Baby” often make a spontaneous donation to the particular cause. Last Christmas using the money raised Gen4 centres around the world were able to help the “Centro Social Unidad” (Unity Social Centre) in Bogotá, Colombia, a centre which welcomes children who have emigrated from Venezuela and the Institut de Réducation Audio Phonétique (IRAP) which is the Institute for Deaf Children in the Lebanon. This year everything will be a bit different because the pandemic has taken away some of our freedom. Nevertheless, ideas and creativity for putting Jesus back at the heart of Christmas have not been lacking. How did they manage to make and offer the little plaster figures? In the family, in small groups, in their neighbourhoods and in parishes whilst still respecting all the restrictions and rules in places for this pandemic. This year they also decided to help the “Collegio Fiore” (Flower College) in Guatemala. The project’s financial situation has got worse because of the pandemic which has meant having to temporarily suspend all school activities. They really need the support of the “Jesus is missing” activity so that children can return to school as soon as possible under improved conditions. For more information visit the sito dei e delle Gen4.
Lorenzo Russo
Dec 8, 2020 | Non categorizzato
God does not let himself be outdone in generosity and He surprises us with His providence. This is confirmed by the experience of Urs, from Switzerland: a gesture made out of love can have many positive effects. I was invited to celebrate Christmas Eve with my two brothers and their wives. I wanted to give each of them a present, but there was no money. So, I placed my wish into God’s hands. 
A few days ago, our friend Peter, a pastor in the Reformed Church, invited us to his parish community to make candles out of beeswax. It is a tradition in many places here, but I had never been involved. I went with the others to make my candle and, to my surprise, I saw that it was beautiful. I remembered that my younger brother’s wife is a candle enthusiast. The first gift was ready! 
Every now and then I go and help out in a small company run by my friends, especially when they have to prepare a shipment and are under pressure. The last time I helped, a couple of weeks ago, during a break, I looked in the warehouse among the items they sell and I found a nice box full of notebooks: one a phone book, another a diary, etc … They were very beautiful. I asked the price, but it was beyond what I could afford. So, I continued preparing the shipment. It was an intense day of work. In the end I was tired, but happy to have lent a hand. When I was leaving, the person in charge gave me a bag thanking me for the help I had given during the year. I opened the bag and I was almost in tears: it was the box with those notepads. The gift for my older brother was ready! A few days ago, a friend gave me an envelope with money: He said: “It’s for you – for your personal needs”. Since it was the day of the Christmas market in our village, I went to have a look, but the prices seemed exaggerated. Before I left, I discovered the stand of a farmer who produced organic vinegar enriched with ginger, just what my older brother’s wife likes. It was packaged in a nice little bottle and the money I received was just enough to buy it. Another little gift was ready! When I got home, a friend tells me that he has received a leather briefcase, which he doesn’t need because he already has one and asks me if I could use it. So, I thought about my younger brother, it could be useful as he deals in consultations and estimates. Then I heard from him that, a few days before, his own had broken, so mine arrived just at the right moment! In the end the presents were ready. A personal note was added to the gift, thanking each person for what they meant to me. It was nice, they were very happy! I thought I would go to the Christmas party empty-handed, but Someone thought to find me a gift for each one.
collected by Gustavo E. Clariá
Dec 7, 2020 | Non categorizzato
Chiara Lubich’s consecration to God on December 7, 1943, when she was 23 years old, laid the foundations of the Focolare Movement. Sixty years later she recalled that moment in a telephone linkup, inviting all members of the Movement to give their lives to God once more. … Looking back today, we can understand what the 7th of December 1943, the year of the Movement’s birth decades ago, can tell us. It tells us that a charism of the Holy Spirit, a new light came down on earth during those days, a light that, in the mind of God, was destined to quench the burning thirst of this world with the water of Wisdom, to warm it with divine love and thus give life to a new people nourished by the Gospel. And God decided to call me, a girl like many others, and hence my consecration to him, my “yes” to God, soon followed by the “yes” said by many other young women and men. That day speaks of light, then, and of people giving their lives to God as instruments in his hands for the achievement of his goals. Light and giving our lives to God: two realities that were extremely useful at that time when there was general confusion, mutual hatred and war. It was a time of darkness, when God’s love, his peace, joy and guidance seemed to be absent from the world, and it seemed that no one was interested in him. Light and giving our lives to God, two words which heaven wants to repeat to us again today, when many wars continue to be waged on our planet and terrorism has appeared as something even more frightening. Light means the Word, the Gospel, which is still too little known and, above all, not lived enough. Giving our lives to God is more necessary and right than ever today, considering that men and women who join causes the pursued by terrorism are ready to give their lives. What then should we Christians do, as followers of a God who was crucified and forsaken in order to bring about a new world, for our salvation and for that Life which will never end? … We should go out again into the world as living Gospels, so as to immerse it in its Light. We can do this by continuing to live God’s will in the present moment … without forgetting the Word of Life, which is taken from Scripture and offered to us month by month. … And, almost as if we were reborn, let’s give ourselves completely to God once more, in the path he has chosen for each one of us. In this way, the present and future that God gives us will also be pleasing to him.
Chiara Lubich
(From a telephone conference call, Rocca di Papa, 25th April 1991)
Dec 5, 2020 | Non categorizzato
The help of the Focolare communities in Latin American countries: actual gestures to be “all brothers (and sisters)”, as Pope Francis invoked in his last encyclical. 
In Peru and in the other Latin American countries we see the continuous arrival of migrants, especially from Venezuela, but also Cuba, Central America, Haiti, and Arab countries. The Focolare communities are committed every day to helping these people. Silvano Roggero, a focolarino in Peru tells us: “Our adventure in Peru begins a few days before Christmas 2017. We invited some Venezuelans we met for lunch at home. At first there were five of them, later on we moved to the “Juan Carlos Duque” Centre because more than 120 people came! I remember Geno’s meeting with Karlin and her three young children. Crouching on the pavement, she was selling sweets. Geno heard a loud voice inside: “It’s Jesus!”. Going back he buys some sweets and invites her to lunch. That Sunday she came with the 3 children and also brought her sister with her two children!” In Colombia near Bogotá, Alba, who arrived as a migrant from Venezuela in 2014, has become a point of reference for the “Caminantes” (migrants) who pass by daily at the local Centre. One day, she hadn’t had lunch yet when a pregnant woman with her partner visited the centre needing medical attention. At the local dispensary there was a very attentive and kind nurse who could help them. Despite the cold, the hunger, the worry of leaving her volunteer colleagues alone at the Centre and also her children at home without lunch, Alba accompanied them to the dispensary and waited with them. At the end of the visit she accompanied the two young parents back to the Centre, and guess what happened? The Caminantes, knowing what Alba had done for the couple, put together some money to buy two cartons of eggs for her, her children and colleagues! Truly a hundredfold! From whom? From those who need it most! At the end of 2018, the Focolare community in Mexico City joined in the “humanitarian reception” of groups of migrants. A civil association inspired by the charism of the Focolare Movement gave its technical contribution and coordination to the authorities. A location was established to facilitate the collection and distribution of food, clothes, personal hygiene products and dozens of blankets. You can imagine the gratitude of the migrants. Brazil has also welcomed many migrants. The local community reports: “The multiplication of donations surprises us. We make a request for a heater, suddenly we get much more. Someone asks us for a sink and the next day a person we don’t know offers to help and donates five. One day a friend goes to buy something to give us. He explains to the shopkeeper the reasons for the purchase and is surprised by the discount and the free delivery offered . On another occasion a person we don’t know tells us: “I will organise an event and with the proceeds I will order some food for you to send to those who need it”.
Lorenzo Russo
Dec 4, 2020 | Non categorizzato
Destroyed by the flood of 2019, the Fazenda has been rebuilt through the contribution of the Focolare Movement’s Emergency Coordination Team, Famiglie Nuove Association and Azione Mondo Unito. 
“It was really hard after the tragedy,” said Ildo Foppo, a Focolare Volunteer, who is responsible for the mission of the Fazenda da Esperança in Dombe, Mozambique, referring to the dramatic flood which struck the country in March 2019. “But at the same time we were sure everything that happened could give new life to these places and to this community,” he added, reflecting on the most precious fruits borne of this shared commitment to reconstruction. “The ties with the local Church have strengthened, as well as with the emergency aid organizations and the whole local community. We’ve met so many people and have received many promises of help.” The devastation and necessity to rebuild actually became an opportunity to create jobs for many people. “We formed several cooperatives, each composed of ten families. In this way many were enabled to earn their own living, and start to rebuild their own future”. Now, nearly two years after the flood, the collaboration between the Fazenda and the Focolare Movement’s Emergency Coordination Team, Famiglie Nuove Association and Azione Mondo Unito, has covered repairs to the nursery, the hospital, four hostels, the secondary school and the Church. Accommodation and service blocks have been completely rebuilt. A warehouse was made available for making the cement blocks required for the construction of family houses. During the first phase of the emergency, food supplies were distributed to those who had lost their homes. 550 temporary shelters with latrines were also quickly built for the homeless families. Later a support programme was developed to promote sustainable income-generation for the population. In particular, 150 families received direct help with house repairs as well as the aquisition of seeds, fertilizer and tractor fuel to facilitate their return to agricultural production. In addition, a carpentry workshop was established which offers training and work to more than 60 young people staying at the Fazenda. And a mill was constsructed to serve around 330 families. These plans were completed despite all the recent pressures brought by Covid-19 to the country. For updates on this project and the region, click: Amu or Afn.
Claudia Di Lorenzi
If you want to make your contribution to help those suffering from the effects of the global Covid crisis, go to this link
Dec 2, 2020 | Non categorizzato
Now in its eighth edition, even Covid could not stop the march that is part of the “Harmony Among Peoples” festival. We talk with Antonella Lombardo, artistic director of the Laboratorio Accademico Danza (LAD) dance school in Montecatini, Italy and promoter of the event. We have seen them in the most different places in these months of pandemic: pianists, violinists, rockers, pop and opera singers on the roofs, in the squares, in the parks, always keeping the right distance. It bears witness how nothing and no one can stop artistic expression, not even a worldwide virus. Antonella Lombardo is artistic director of the Laboratorio Accademico Danza school in Montecatini, near Florence, Italy. He’s also the creator of the Harmony Among Peoples festival that for 15 years has been promoting the idea of the search for possible harmony through art, as an inclusive and universal instrument. The 2020 edition did not stop with Covid. 
What shape did the festival take this year? The “Harmony for Peace” march is one of the main events of the “Harmony among Peoples” festival, and we knew that this year we were not going to be able to hold it in the traditional way. A virtual format was the only possibility, and so we launched it on 12 November. We invited schools in the area in which we are located, as well as beyond Italy, to make videos that express the meaning of peace. The response was incredible. Despite the fact that many schools in Italy now use, from a certain degree upwards, education at a distance, teachers supported the project, students responded enthusiastically, and everything took on a higher value, especially from the point of view of building relationships. The teachers collaborated with each other, and many classes made the videos that we posted on the DanceLab Armonia Cultural Association Facebook page. We received works not only from Italy, but also from other countries like France and Jordan. Thus an extremely varied digital marathon took shape and said “peace” in the most diverse artistic and choreographic formats. Of the material you received, was there something that touched you in a particular way? Why? We were struck first of all by the interactions among the kids. We don’t know where all this will lead, and the fact that they got together to work on what it means to build peace, today, is perhaps the most important thing. They had to come up with ideas with their teachers in order to make the videos. They went deep into the meaning of peace, and the fact that it is not a slogan. This made them have to dig into each other’s hearts. Even the civil servants from towns in our area who saw the early beginnings and growth of the “Harmony Among Peoples” festival were enthusiastic and told us that it was one of the most beautiful activities of their lives. In short, these relationships are the most beautiful fruit: true relationships, based on relationships built on our common good. What projects are you working on now? In collaboration with the Custody of the Holy Land, particularly with the support of Fr. Ibrahim Faltas and the John Paul II Foundation, we are working to create a dance school in Bethlehem. This project hopes to be a glimmer of hope and give dignity to so many children in these territories, who are prisoners in the open air. Another project is an international campus for dance, which will be based in Italy but be international. It will be a training centre where art will become a tool to break any kind of barrier – a place for all young people who want to leave their mark and use this language to bring beauty everywhere, even where it seems impossible.
Stefania Tanesini
